Posts tagged ‘Illegal Immigrant’

PALATINE, IL — Banuelos, then 31 from Mexico, was living illegally in Illinois when she lost custody of her four year old daughter, Lyric Garcia, in 1997. Around the same time police had charged her for first degree murder for the death of her youngest child, a newly born baby girl.

On April 29, 1997, Banuelos returned to a Palatine home where she was living at the time. She had worked an overnight shift at a grill factory and then slept through the afternoon. She awoke to labor pains and went to her bathroom where she delivered her daughter without medical attention. The infant, who was not given a name, was born healthy and only lived the first moments of her short life before she was drowned by the hands of her own mother.

She was arrested shortly after. Lyric, the eldest daughter, had been placed in a guardian’s custody pending the result of the murder and custody trail.

Banuelos was scheduled to begin trial on October 12, 1999 for the murder. Two days before trail, on October 10, 1999, during a monthly visitation, she had gone by her sister’s house upset over a meeting with her lawyer. It is unknown what exactly transpired at the meeting but her other sister, who was also at the house, suggested that the three of them (her, Banuelos and Lyric) spend their visit at the local Chicago mall, to get their mind off the custody issue and upcoming court date.

While at the mall, Banuelos snatched Lyric and took off and both of them haven’t been seen or heard from since.

For nearly fourteen years, she has been on the run, evading murder and kidnapping charges in Illinois. She is believed to have travelled back to Mexico.

FBI was eventually involved in the case and Banuelos is listed on their website. According to the FBI, calls were made to a hotel in Zacatecas, Mexico, where she is believed to have friends.

There have been no sightings of Banuelos since 1999, and officials said they do not know if Lyric, who would now be around 17 or 18, is still alive.

Kimberly Orellana, born July 7, 2000 is a 12-year-old child who was last on August 9, 2012. She was seen walking along highway 281 between Falfurrias and McAllen, which is located in Texas. Last seen over two month’s ago on August 9, 2012. According to NCMEC, she may still be in the local area although unlikely according to her parents.

Kimberly is an illegal immigrant from El’Salvador who was travelling with other illegal immigrants. Her parents, who were also illegals, contacted authorities and reported her missing.

Immigrant activist Livio Danna said the group was heading to Houston but left her behind after she couldn’t walk anymore. Now, Danna is doing whatever he can to find the 12 year old girl.

“She was travelling with people. She started to feel uncomfortable, upset and tired and then she just left at that point,” Danna said.

On the website ‘web-sleuths’ Internet users had a few theories. Some thought foul-play, others assumed she was placed in an illegal sex-trafficking ring while others were concerned that the young girl was near McAllen which is close to the Mexican/US boarder and considered a very bad town.

Kimberly is described as a Hispanic female with black hair, brown eyes and has both ears pierced. She is 5’2” tall, weighing approximately 120 pounds.

Cameron Hernandez, also 12, was a Corpus Christi child who also went missing a couple week’s after Kimberly’s disappearance.

Photo of Cameron Hernandez, age 12, missing from Corpus Christi, TX.

Cameron has been missing since late August, 2012 when she left a Corpus Christi apartment complex to go for a late night jog. She along with her mother had recently moved from Harlingen in the Rio Grande Valley to Corpus Christi, where the mother says her daughter knew almost no one. She is enrolled in 6th grade at Corpus Christi’s Tom Brown Middle School.

Cameron was last seen on the 4100 block of Brett Street wearing a white tank top, silver basketball shorts, and black Nike running shoes. She was also using a Camel-back water carrier with a camouflage pattern.

She is described as a Hispanic female, standing about 5’1,” weighs approximately 100 pounds. Cameron has naturally brown hair, but it is currently dyed red. She has brown eyes.

Currently police do not believe Cameron had any reason to run away. Anyone with information is urged to call Corpus Christi police detectives at (361) 886-2670 – ask for Sean McFarland or James Lerma.

Side Note: Similarities between the two girl’s are not only their age but their race, both are Hispanic both have dark hair and brown eyes, both are around the same height and weight and both recently came to Texas. Another similarity is, both are still missing.